A special education legal resource discussing case law, news, practical advocacy advice, and developments in state and federal laws, statutes and regulations. Postings include insight and sometimes humor from Charles P. Fox, a Chicago, Illinois attorney who is also a parent of child with special needs, and other guest authors. Email: [email protected]

June 23, 2017

On Monday, the U.S. Senate will begin debate its bill, the Better Care Reconciliation Act, to replace the Affordable Care Act. The bill is being touted as better than the House bill but in terms of how it fundamentally alters Medicaid it is much worse. The Senate bill makes historic changes in how states are reimbursed for Medicaid and would place a per capita cap on the federal match. The shift to a per capita cap creates incentives for both federal and state governments to alter definitions and eligibility criteria for Medicaid including how they would define persons qualifying with a disability. This will place millions of children and people with disabilities at risk of not qualifying for any coverage. The change will force states to balance their budgets with much less federal Medicaid funding over time forcing cuts to Medicaid across the board.

This bill threatens access and support to services for tens of millions of families including those who rely on Medicaid services for their children at school. Also, districts use Medicaid to pay for school nurses, counselors, psychologists and other trained professionals that help all children. These positions and the services they provide will be in jeopardy if this bill passes, as states struggle to make up the loss of funds.

Visit your Senators home office this weekend, make a call, send an email or use social media to say NO to the Senate health care bill.